37signals-style

name	37signals-style
description	Rails coding patterns derived from analysis of 37signals' Fizzy codebase. Use when writing Rails code in 37signals/Basecamp style or when asked to follow 37signals patterns. Covers controllers, models, views, Hotwire, testing, database, security, and team philosophy.

37signals Style Guide

Patterns derived from analysis of 37signals' Fizzy codebase. Representative, not authoritative — these reflect observed conventions, not an official 37signals document.

Topic Map

Core Rails Patterns

• references/controllers.md — Thin controllers, concerns, authentication, authorization
• references/models.md — Fat models, scopes, query objects, concerns
• references/views.md — Presenters, partials, view helpers, template conventions
• references/routing.md — RESTful design, nested resources, custom routes
• references/database.md — Schema design, indexes, migrations, query optimization

Frontend & Hotwire

• references/hotwire.md — Turbo Drive, Turbo Frames, Turbo Streams patterns
• references/stimulus.md — Stimulus controller conventions, value API, targets
• references/css.md — CSS organization, naming conventions, component patterns
• references/action-text.md — Rich text integration patterns
• references/actioncable.md — WebSocket channel patterns

Application Features

• references/authentication.md — Session management, password reset, remember me
• references/background-jobs.md — Solid Queue/ActiveJob patterns, retry strategies
• references/caching.md — Fragment caching, counter caches, cache keys
• references/email.md — Mailer conventions, transactional email patterns
• references/notifications.md — In-app notifications, notification objects
• references/filtering.md — Search and filter patterns, query objects
• references/workflows.md — Multi-step processes, state machines
• references/webhooks.md — Inbound/outbound webhook handling

Infrastructure

• references/active-storage.md — File upload conventions, image variants
• references/configuration.md — Environment config, credentials, feature flags
• references/observability.md — Logging, error tracking, instrumentation
• references/performance.md — N+1 prevention, caching strategies, query optimization
• references/security-checklist.md — OWASP checklist, Brakeman, safe patterns
• references/multi-tenancy.md — Account scoping, current attributes
• references/mobile.md — Mobile-specific patterns, PWA considerations
• references/ai-llm.md — LLM/AI integration patterns

Testing

• references/testing.md — 37signals testing approach, fixtures, minitest conventions

Philosophy & Team

• references/development-philosophy.md — Basecamp Way, calm technology, YAGNI
• references/what-they-avoid.md — Patterns 37signals deliberately avoids
• references/dhh.md — DHH's Rails principles and design opinions
• references/jorge-manrubia.md — Jorge Manrubia's contributions and patterns
• references/jason-zimdars.md — Jason Zimdars' design and UX conventions
• references/accessibility.md — Accessibility patterns and ARIA usage
• references/watching.md — Activity feeds, event tracking patterns
• references/rails-engineering-standards-and-practices.md — Engineering standards